There has been a lot of talk recently about bullying. I wrote a post about it myself, remembering bullies on the schoolbus from my childhood. In the news yesterday, there was a woman who posted a letter on facebook and expressed how bullying had been a large part of her life in school. So much so that she actually moved away from the town in California just to get away from it. Her former classmates have expressed regret and have pooled together and are paying the way for this woman to return to California for a class reunion. (She now lives in the state of New York.) If you click on the link above, that should take you to the video..
"Forgiveness is a virtue", that is what Louis Zamperini wrote to me in a note that I treasure. (Please go back to my blog and type in HIS name and read the post that I wrote about him... such an amazing man and story!)
"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own."
Adam Lindsay Gordon
You may read more about Adam Lindsay Gordon here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Lindsay_Gordon
This Australian poet, it seems to me, had a very interesting but difficult life and even though life became too much for him, that does not mean that we can't listen to his words and take something from them.
After reading about this poet, it reminded me of the song "Vincent" by Don McLean. I found it for you and I hope you like it.
Please understand that I have such a great pity for those who have suffered from bullying and abuse in their lives. And I hope that if anyone feels they are at the end of the rope, then I sincerely hope that they will seek the help that they need and which is available to them. I felt so saddened to learn that the poet had committed suicide but since a young man in our small town had done the same thing recently, this also made me think of him. May all the love from the community bring comfort and healing for his family.
Of all deaths, suicide has to be one of the saddest for the emotions it evokes in those it leaves behind. And so often those closest to the person don't know how the person is suffering. Afterwards they might wonder how they might have helped but unless the person shares their problems the answer is that there is no way they could have helped. So, it seems to me, the important thing for anyone who is at the end of their tether is to share their problems with people - the more the better. It's a cliche that a trouble shared is a trouble halved but sometimes cliches are true.
ReplyDeleteI hope the family in your community will get the support they need at this difficult time.
Dear John,
DeleteThank you for being able to express this so well. If anyone lands on this blog by typing in "kindness", I will be grateful that they will have your comment here.
Nothing to add to what John wrote above. Poor family and friends of the young man who took his life.
ReplyDeleteDear Meike,
DeleteThank you and bless you for your kind thoughts.
It is heartbreaking when you hear about anyone committing suicide, but it seems so much worse somehow when the person is young, and potentially has a whole life ahead of them.
ReplyDeleteDear Tracey,
DeleteYou just wish they could have reached out to someone and asked for help...whether it be bullying or if they were thinking of taking their own lives. Very sad.
That is very sad, Kay. It really upsets me when I hear about someone taking their own life. These are people who have so much pain inside of them that they feel that ending it all is the only way to stop hurting. A lot of them don't reach out for help because they don't believe there is any hope. And when all hope is lost, all desire to go on is lost with it. I wish all these tormented souls could be reached.
ReplyDeleteDear Martha,
DeleteThe place that we visit in England, Eastbourne? There is the most beautiful spot there, Beachy Head, but it is well known as one of the top suicide spots in England.
There are people who watch for those who look as if they want to throw themselves off, and they try to talk with them. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes not.
Like you, I wish they could all be saved.
So much tragedy, and all it would take is a little kindness to turn people's lives around. That's usually true for the bullied and the bullies alike, too.
ReplyDeleteDear Mimi,
DeleteSo true. What people don't realize is that people who are cruel are only mimicking the behavior of what they have known in their own lives. Kindness goes a long way, for all people.
I hope the woman going to her classmates to California really does forgive them and that they are nice to her, really nice, not just for the cameras.
I hope the class reunion goes well for them all - I guess I have a warped mind and the first thing I envisioned was them all ganging up on her again!! It's funny that a few weeks ago, after reading about someone being bullied, I was wondering if bullies ever change and if they even recognize themselves as having been bullies - we always hear from the victim, we need to hear more from the bully.
ReplyDeleteDear Jane,
DeleteOh, I hope that they are sincere. We are all human and we all make mistakes, every one of us. That is why we have a brain and heart, we are capable of thought and forgiveness.